So, for our readers who don't already know, the
band's name comes from a character in the Hernandez brothers' Love and
Rockets comics. I went through a phase in high-school where I couldn't
get enough of indie comics and Love and Rockets was one of the first to
open my eyes to what could be done outside of superheroes and spandex.
When did you develop a relationship with comics?
I've read comics as long as I could remember. My mom bought me MAD
Magazine when I was a tiny kid which pretty quickly turned into
collecting comics together, learning how to draw characters I liked, and
eventually drawing and writing my own stories.
In doing research for this interview, I happened upon what I
believe is your Goodreads page and noticed a lot of graphic novels.
Some you loved (Watchmen) some you didn't (The Walking Dead). Some of
our authors are working on graphic novels of their own. What is it you
look for from a great graphic novel?
Ha, I forgot that existed... I set up that account half-assedly and was
ultimately unimpressed with the service. Kind of like Pandora or Netflix
which only ever recommends me things I already know. I'm all for zombie
stories but I find 'The Walking Dead' (at least the book) to be 2D,
underdeveloped, misogynistic. I don't feel for any of the characters on
'The Walking Dead' (and by necessity of the plot) they're totally
disposable. The most memorable things about them are their hair-dos,
their accessories, their weapons. If you have a great story with weak
characters, no one's gonna give a shit. Interesting characters are
necessary. That should go without saying. Someone page Robert Kirkman.
So, lets get to Speedy. What is it about the character,
Speedy Ortiz, that struck such a chord that you decided to name your
band after him?
A few people close to me died in 2011, and
at the time I was reading Locas, and I remember feeling impressed with
the way Jaime Hernandez portrays grief in "The Death of Speedy Ortiz"
and the stories that follow it. More so than Speedy, I was interested in
how Maggie and Izzy and the rest of the people close to Speedy
continued to live their lives after his death, the way Hernandez hints
at their grieving processes, and how the narrative continues so abruptly
after he dies (we're led immediately from Speedy's ghost haunting his
sister to a scene about Hopey on tour).
You have a background in poetry. What poet, past or present, do you think would fit in nicely as a member of the band?
We
once played a show that ended with a reading from Wendy Xu, whose new
book 'You Are Not Dead' is one of my favorites of the year. It would be
cool to do another show like that. Wendy Xu, wherever you are, please
eat sandwiches with us.
I've asked other artists this same question so I'm curious
what you think. I know that as an aspiring novelist, I spend a lot of
time wrapped up in music. I write important scenes to songs. I use
songs to try to get into some of my characters' heads. It plays an
important role in what I do with words. I've always been of the
opinion, beyond actually writing lyrics, that there is a special kinship
between authors and musicians. Still, I can't really play much of
anything on my guitar (which doesn't stop me from shredding it up with
my two kids). What is your take? Do you see music and writing as being
partners?
To be honest I've never really seen my writing and my music as
connected. I have to focus so intently when I read and write that I
can't even really listen to music when I do so. I'm jealous of my
friends who go into a coffee shop for a day and knock out huge chunks of
their novels while listening to an iPod, because for me that's way too
distracting. But I do enjoy books and poems that use music as their
subject matter and I read a lot of music criticism.
The majority of our readers are pounding out words on their
keyboards to try to tell stories and we all go through a variety of
processes to get those stories out. What does your process look like
when you are songwriting? Where do you struggle?
Almost always I compose music first and the lyrics fall into place
afterwards. Sometimes I'll come up with a line when I'm walking around
or in the shower or whatever. Sometimes I'll fill in the rhythmic blanks
with phrases I've jotted down in a notebook. I'm lucky in that a lot of
it comes automatically to me through association. As far as where I
struggle, editing is not my strong suit. Once something's done I
typically let it go without changing anything. But sometimes I'll be
performing an older song and be like, "Man, I really wish I'd changed
this shitty line right when I first wrote it, but now we've recorded it
this way and now it's stuck and now I have to embarrassed every night."
So I take some live liberties and change the lyrics for that, which is
kind of a revisionist history. Not that anyone can understand what I'm
saying anyway.
My rock soul was shaped in no small part by Sonic Youth. You
recently toured with Thurston Moore. What was that experience like?
Did you happen to catch what books he was reading?
The
shows were with Thurston Moore & John Moloney's Caught On Tape duo,
which is improvisational, so the sets were different every night, which
was nice. Super talented, both of them (obviously) and really
interesting performers. Didn't snoop anyone's books but I did pick up a
cool compilation CD from Ambrose Bye, a friend of Thurston and John, who
was along with them for the dates. It's called Harry's House and it's
got work from Eileen Myles and Anne Waldman, Thurston too. Pretty cool.
In another nod to our readers, many of which are writing books
for a younger readership...think middle school and high school...what's a
book from your childhood that really stuck with you?
As
far as middle and high school, I don't think I had a big YA reading
phase. I liked beat stuff in high school and got super into Burroughs
(story of every teenager's life). I loved Murakami. I definitely read a
lot of manga in middle school. I probably have every Sailor Moon book.
Oh, I probably got into Animorphs too, now that I think about it.
There's an interesting thing happening right now in the world
of books related to self-publishing. E-readers have really opened the
door for almost anyone to get a book out there into the hands of the
public. With that addition to the market, there's been a backlash
against self-published authors. For years and years and years there has
been a DIY scene in music and it doesn't seem to have that same "You
don't know what the fuck you're doing" vibe that lingers around book
publishing. Your band itself began as a bedroom project. Why do you
think the music scene has really embraced that spirit of self-promotion
while DIY publishing is struggling with legitimacy?
This is probably tough for me to answer since I don't know a ton about
self-publishing literature (outside of homemade zines and chapbooks,
that is, which are totally legitimate!). My depressing analysis is that
for whatever reason, as a member of both literary and musical
communities, it seems that less people (at least in my mid-20s age
demographic) are invested in supporting literature, independent or
mainstream, than are interested in supporting music. Maybe it's an issue
of attention span and time commitment. I know that when I bring
chapbooks to shows, which I make in a limited run and give away for
free, we're more likely to sell out of $10 EPs at the show than to get
rid of all of the free chapbooks.
If I jump into the backseat of your tour van and start poking
around through your stuff, what books am I going to be dragging out of
your duffel bags?
Right now I'm reading Dorothea Lasky's
Thunderbird, which she signed for me at AWP (I got totally starstruck).
Last tour I read some Oliver Sacks, some Wallace Stevens, some comics,
some shitty goofy guidebook about touring. I have Joseph Ceravolo's
Collected Poems in the wings for the next tour, and a couple other dumb
pop science books.
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